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(Setting) The Midnight Drifter
| >Impulse get into the bar,and as usual,carrying his duffle bag filled with metal scrap
>He is wearing a Zsh-1-2M helmet with a faceshield over his usual balaclava,he is outfited with a Tactec plate carrier over his usual outfit of black hoodie,dark grey sweatpants and black boots.He also has his trusty AS Val slinged on his side.
>Impulse sit at the bar
"Miss Bartender,I will have a gut punch,please"
| > A Lilim enters the bar. Much of her torso is covered with a dull grey Chesterfield jacket, with a Kira Miki cap donned on her head. She sighs before then removing the cap from her head, revealing a chest-length hair of dim, almost black, purple.
"Gah! I'm safe."
> She takes the seat by the countertop, looking as though familiar with the place. Her vision lowers as she seems to be toying with a phone.
| >Through the door another Lilim emerged, wearing a black leather vest and a lengthy red scarf with tell tale short ginger hair. Immediately upon entering he strolled to the counter.
"One virgin Sugar rush if you'd be so kind."
>Dice nodded his greetings to both patrons.
| "Ah! You're here?"
> The female Lilim perks up seeing the new appearance. She puts her phone down, text visibly unfinished.
"I was just going to call you here! You said you wanted to go visit pubs here, so I thought of inviting you—"
> She quickly pockets her phone.
"Ah, but that doesn't matter now. Your order's in my tab. My treat for today!"
| >>521839
>Impulse nodded back
"Done with the delivery,eh? That reminds me,I havent paid you for today yet,have I? There you go"
>Impulse say as he take a cred stick out and pay Dice with it
"That should cover today pay,and probably tomorrow too"
>Impulse say before he go back to his stooland take off his helmet to set it gently on the counter
| > He smiled at her offer.
"Thanks friend, you came here yourself? Whatever happened to the creeper?"
> Hearing Impulse he turned around and accepted the credits.
"Thanks chief."
| "Let's hope they don't spot me walking here."
> She flashes the cap she held on her hand, then she let it rest on the countertop.
"I tried my best. I do fear them being outside, though."
| "Well I'm here so if they come near they'll have to deal with both of us, and I can give you a lift afterwards."
> He put a hand in his pocket and almost reflexively pulled out another can of canned coffee but stopped himself and kept his hands in his pockets.
" I like your hat."
| "A-ah? This? I got it from Miki's last tour. I think that's where it was? I can't remember clearly."
> She answered, albeit slightly unsure of her reply. Her hand waves to the bartender, but she shortly puts it back.
"I forgot what I was going to order as well. D-drat. Never mind."
> Instead, she turns back to Dice. Hoping to cover her embarrassment.
"Anyway! You have your truck ready here? I guess a lift wouldn't be too bad. I'll take the service!"
| "The dice-mobile is always near and ready for deployment."
>He answered with a grin.
"I never actually got to see Kira Miki....maybe I got in this city too late."
| "Her last concert was good, they say. It's a shame there were people with bad intents by the end of the show."
> She replied, poking her cap mindlessly.
"I do hope she goes back to Glitch City's stage again. It's always happy and fluffy whenever her concert is around."
| >>521827
>The eyepatched bartender, Emily stares long and hard at the lilim
"Miss have I seen you before, I swear another one of my customers looked like you, although I dont quite think they were lilims"
>>521839
"Ill be right on it, its rare I get orders for BTC drinks though"
>Emily smiles
"are you new here?"
>>521812
>You find a gut punch before you
>Emily winks, well you think she did anyway.
>The woman at the counter just looks over the new arrivals with her glowing eyes
| >>ec9f56
"She'll probably be back someday when it's safer X."
>He paused and considered the nickname. Mulling it over his own expression turned embarrassed.
"Is it fine if I call you X?"
>>073ea2
"I thought the BTC had a hand everywhere. And yeah I moved in this city about a month ago from Ireland."
| >>521903
"Well, almost, my grandparents kinda played them a mean trick when they made them sign a contract a long time ago, to my knowledge we're the only ones here who can serve regular old alcohol without legal repercussions, atleast in gc, some other parts of the world still can too"
>The bartender smiles
"So ask for anything you like, ill be sure to make it for you"
| >>073ea2
"...hmn I'll stick with anything non-alcoholic tonight, I'm the designated driver. What's your name by the way?"
| >>521921
"I'm Emily Derringer, but just Emily or Emi is fine"
>She shows a cute smile, before pointing to the woman sitting at the counter
"This one is Elena Douji, she's a regular here"
>The woman nods
"Well, I dont drink much nor come often so its a miracle i'm even a regular"
>Her voice is pleasant, like a mother's, she turns to face you, her eyes glowing gently.
"but from Ireland huh, that's a farcry from here, as a fellow outsider I'd like to wish you good luck"
| >>521895
"Thanks,Emily.Your speed never change"
>Impulse say as he take off his balaclava and take a sip of his gut punch
| >>521903
"X? That's an odd nickname, but I'll go by it."
> She replied, murmuring one bit, after seeing the conversation. She returns to the bartender, seemingly having something to order.
>>521895
"You must be confusing me for someone else, 'Tender. I'll have uh, what was it again? I forgot the name. I'll just take anything sweet — not too alcoholic, too."
| >>073ea2
"I'm Connor Sutherland but you can just call me Dice. It's my pleasure to meet you both."
>He answered curtly, business-like even.
| >>522048
>Emily smiles
"I think I have something you'd enjoy"
>She prepares a drink, slowly mixing ingredients in oddly shaped bottles
>She sets the red drink in front of X
"Enjoy"
>>522059
"Now now, dont be so rigid, this is a bar, please by all mean enjoy yourself"
>Emily smiles
| >A girl enters the bar, dressed in a large black cloak, her skin is white, her eyes are white, her hair is white
>She sits down at the bar
"Emily, Yes. We come again, F is not here, is she? No, yes, she isn't yes?"
>She speaks like a machine gun, answering her own questions
"We would like Gut Punch, yes? What would you recommend? We don't know what we want, indeed."
>She nods
| >>522064
"Oh huh, hello Ophelia, no F isnt here, but she swung by yesterday, she said to tell you she was getting ready for a fishing trip?"
>Emily thinks for a second
"Yeah, thats what she said"
| >>522065
"Hm, We see, We see. Yes, fishing. Fishing with F is fun, lots of good food in flooded. We know. Boot, Glass, all tasty human food, yes?"
>She tilts her head
"We decided, want a Godfather, Kokoro swears by it, sounds tasty, yes?"
| >>522063
> The Lilim takes a small sip from the drink, immediately lighting up after said sip. Her face is bright with surprise and content.
"Ah, this is the order I meant."
> She murmured, happily taking another sip.
| >>522067
"Ah, well this Kokoro person certainly does know their classics!"
>Emily mixes the strong drink with a flourish and serves it to the odd customer
"A godfather for you, Ophelia"
>>522068
"I'm glad you enjoy it, this drink has quite the history, and the lady that I mistook you for often came here to have it"
>Emily smiles nostalgically
"I haven't seen her or John in a while though, I wonder if anything happened"
| >>522067
"Wait,you eat boots?"
>Impulse say,the impression on his face show that he's quite surprise
| >>522070
"Let's hope not! People come and go. Maybe they got off the city for good."
> She joyously drank another sip, letting one third of its content be left in as she continues to talk.
"But let's still hope it's all for a good reason!"
| >before anyone could answer, the entrance slammed open, revealing a fairly upgraded Lilim, around 25 for human standards, talking agitatedly on her phone, before freezing in embarrassment from the silence she just caused. After everyone stopped staring, she meekly scooted over to a chair
"A big Sugar Rush with Karmotrine, 17 pieces of it, please."
| >>073ea2
"I uh...I'm just trying to not let my accent show."
> Dice coughed into his fist, as a lint of Irish seeped through.
"I'm actually not too familiar with non-BTC drinks. So I'll have to stick with a kamotrineless sugar rush."
| "So, Dice — should I say that you should let your accent show?"
> X commented, hearing her roommate's speak.
"I'm preprogrammed without an accent. It's good for singing, but I want a fancy accent myself!"
> She seems to complain about petty issues before taking another sip herself.
"Imagine how interesting the stream would be if I were to have an accent…"
| >>ec9f56
"You know funny story about the accent X....a few years ago back in Dublin I was greeted by a Canadian tourist and he, in a well practiced and perfect dialect, spoke to me in Irish. I thought he spoke the language so I let loose and gave him directions, he had asked me where the nearest restaurant was. Then he stopped me and in English he says 'whoa whoa I'm using a text to speech here I don't speak Leprechaun! Slow down!'."
> the Lilim grinned at the memory.
| "It's his mistake not having a translator ready. I have never studied the language, but I hear it's quite complex, yes?"
> She said, curiously letting a small laughter at the story.
"People do have those weird awareness to something. It's funny that yours is accent — it's close to mine. I have the same self-consciousness to my voice modulator, which tends to sound robotic at times."
> She pauses, looking at her drink.
"—Makes singing a tad hard."
| >>ec9f56
"It is, it's not Mandarin hard...but it's got a steep learning curve. You can download language packs to learn it but my teacher insisted I learn 'an seanbhealach faisin' the old fashioned way."
> His accent had manifested there, subtle yet pleasant. He then took a few moments to compose his words carefully as always.
"I've heard you sing and I think you're great."
| >>522125
"T-thank you. Did you hear me during my vocal warm-ups? I have been consciously trying to not be too loud. I hope I haven't been waking you up because of it!"
> She giggled, drink in her hand. At the end of her laugh, she took a sip while still having surprise to the taste of the drink.
"Language packs doesn't work with me, sadly. I tried. They simply aren't registering. I guess I'll have to do what your teacher said."
| >>522074
"Boots are delicious? Don't humans eat them all the time? I'm human too, I would know. Ahaha."
>The white girl, Ophelia, chuckles
>>522070
"Thank you Emily, yes."
>Ophelia begins sipping the drink
"Hmm. What is this taste? We don't get it, tasty, tasty? I think I know, We don't know though."
>She begins thinking with a hand on her chin
| >A short girl in black military fatigues enters the bar, holstering her rifle and taking a seat.
"...A sugar rush please"
| >>522162
"Ahaha"
>Impulse laugh awkwardly with Ophelia as he eye around the bar for something else to talk about
| >>522080 >>522178
"Two sugar rushes coming up, I'd have to ask you to keep any weapons out of the counter though, this is after all a legal venture"
>Emily grins and laughs
>The woman with the green eyes eyes the rifle and then looks back at her glass
| >>522277
"Ehm,Emily?Can I still tinker stuffs in here,or has you changed your policy"
>Impulse say,almost finishing his glass of gut punch
| >>522160
> There was a sudden rise of excitement visible in her face. She tried to hide it by taking a sip, but her thoughts are exposed to a crystal clear level.
"I-is that so? That's good to hear!"
> Her speech was groggy and shaky, and she kept staring at the drink she held.
| >>ec9f56
> The courier casted his yellow eyes around the tavern. Then turned them back to X.
"You doing okay? "
| >>522293
"I'm well! I'm well!"
> She responds hastily, throwing a laugh at the end of her words.
"My body doesn't respond to alcohol. I'll be okay even after the fifth shot!"
| >>ec9f56
"Alright Alright!"
> He joined in the laughter, he had cut away his formal english and now was speaking with the irish accent fully.
"Mind If I ask you something X? how'd you get into music?"
| >>522299
"I don't fully remember. I do know I have lots of instruments and that I know how to play them."
> She ponders on her answer, humming along until she worded more of said answer.
"I don't think it's preprogramming though! Maybe it's an innate thing? Ah — I should really have my memory problems sorted out now."
| >The girl nods, and holsters her rifle on her back. She takes a sip of the sugar rush and frowns slightly.
"do you have anything with more sugar? like a cola or something...
| >>ec9f56
"I looked at that old bass you have in the kitchen, and I keep wanting to learn how to play that. Though our AI's keep developping through the years, it's not too hard to believe we just pick up interests. I got into a few hobbies myself."
>His brow perked up.
"You got memory leaks?"
| >>522301
"I have some cocoa if Emily can provide us with some hot water"
>Impulse say as he take a small bag of cocoa powder from his pocket
| >>522306
"Memory leaks? I think so — but I believe it's only a leak because of the faulty memory chip I have. That's the repercussion for being an old model."
> Her eyes didn't once change from their position. She kept a distant stare onto her drink, tracing the glass with her finger.
"Ah, and you can take that bass if you want to! I had it because a fellow streamer also used a similar instrument, but I never got around to mastering it."
| "Hm?"
>Ophelia checks her phone, before standing back up
"Hm? HM? Emily, I will leave now, yes? Geek Man calls Ophelia, need a disguise, yes? I'll be back, later, put it on F's tab, yes? You will."
>Ophelia walks out of the building with a confident strut
| >Arable enters the bar
"scuse me barkeep.. anything special..?"
| >>522277
"Ah, yes. Karmotrine really does make everything better."
>The Lilim takes a sip of the Sugar Rush-tinted Karmotrine monstrosity, and proceeds to fix up her messy blazer before taking any more swigs of the liver poison she ordered.
>The Lilim the looks over to the counter
"Thanks Barkeep. Can I get a name or is Barkeep your real name?"
| >>522315
"Hm, oh sure! Have a good night Ophelia!"
>Emily says absent-mindly
"Wait, put it on F's tab, but it's already- she left..."
>She sighs
>>522331
"Ah, hello, but what do you mean by anything special, a drink?"
>Emily waves to Arable as he enters
| >>ec9f56
>The Lilim's eyes looked to her glass then to his empty hand, wishing he had himself an Irish coffee to sip on while his thoughts processed information.
"Did you get it looked at?"
| >>522392
"I'm a knock-off model. I have no official support here, or anywhere else."
> She takes a deep breath, then let out a sigh. Her eyes dull to the glass.
"I'd say I did a good job of hiding the rusting from you then, hm?"
> Her tone of voice changes to accommodate her sarcastic question, and it stays.
"I'm someone else's Frankenstein monster. I just don't have my Dr. Frankenstein."
| >>ba74da
>Dice's face turned to shock as she revealed this to him, he turned to face her. A guilty look passed onto his face.
"I'm sorry...I shouldn't have pressed on."
| >>522399
"Oh, uhm, did I make it sound somber? I'm sorry! It's not your fault!"
> She was even more in shock knowing the atmosphere she made. She tries to say more to lighten up, but she kept stuttering at her words.
"It's all still a surprise here to me as well. Don't worry! I'm all okay, and I don't plan to change my status quo with life!"
> She tried her best to smile, but her tiredness shows on her face.
| >Impulse finish his gut punch
"Bartender,can I have another gut punch please?"
>Impulse start to take out his portable fabricator and start fabricating weapon components from the scrap in his duffle
| >Impulse set work on creating a weapon
>>522399
"Dice!Sorry to interupt,but what would you like for a self-defense weapon. I need to make sure my courier can survive to ensure my deliveries"
>Impulse shout
| >>522394
"A knock-off huh"
>The Lady at the counter turns her green eyes towards X, somehow she seems extremely serious
"Do you have any particular designation, the only knock-offs I ever met all did, and those could be used to track their creators back"
>Her eyes seem dim now, almost as if she was reminiscing about something, something unpleasant
>>522521
"Oh, sure!"
>Emily makes another gut punch and gives it to Impulse with a smile
"I wonder if Tomato will come in tonight..."
| >>522860
> X faces the lady, meeting her with an expression that can only describe doubt.
"I'm not sure. I don't know if I have a proper name; 'xnbc' is an alias, but not a name."
> She drinks her glass empty, putting it down on the countertop once she does so.
"If I do have a designation, then I'm not aware of it."
| >>522880
>The woman looks deep into her eyes and then sighs
"Is that so, then don't mind it, I just thought I had found a clue- it's nothing you should concern yourself with"
>Her eyes dim again before she returns to her glass
>Emily pats her head for some reason
"Thanks"
>The woman says, lowly
| >>522899
"I-I see."
> She looks away, not to any particular subject. Her empty gaze were much of a guess to her as much to anyone else. Though noticing the empty glass, she lets the bartender know of it.
"I'll have another glass of that, 'Tender."
| >Arable looks tired of waiting
"scuse me.. barkeep..? you still there..?"
-∆rable
| >The door swings open, and with an 'Adios!' from outside, in walks Oenone. She's trying on a comparatively simple color scheme- She's retained her signature ice-white plating, and the only highlight color she's using is red.
"Hello again!" >The Lilim greets the bartender, making her way to the counter.
"One Piano Woman, please!"
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| >A single eyepatched bar tender stands behind her bar counter, looking at the clock place on the brick wall facing her, now that mega Christmas was over she finally could breath
>A single woman sits at the bar, her incredibly long black hair touching the floor beneath, despite her height, which easily surpasses six feet tall.
>In front of her is a glass, still untouched, reflecting the mesmerizing glow of her Green eyes
"It got boring huh"
>The bartender says
>The woman, OS, nods